korea summit last week. -- next week. at 9:30, clarence page on the news of the day and we take your calls on you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. "washington journal" is next. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2019] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] ♪ host: it is the "washington journal" for february 19. senator bernie sanders announced he will seek the democratic nomination for senate -- president. he will take the values of all of vermont are proud of and carry them throughout the country. a campaign video is expected later today. we will talk about that somewhat during the course of the program. in this first hour, we are interested in hearing from you about the condition of roads and bridges in the united states as there is an op-ed calling for the raising of fuel taxes in infrastructure.

we want to get your thoughts on these -- this idea of raising taxes. maybe you have other ideas of improving infrastructure. for those of use in -- you in eastern and central time zones, 202-748-8000. in the mountain and pacific time zones, 202-748-8001. if you wanted to give your thoughts on improving infrastructure on social media sites, you can do so off of twitter @cspanwj and about 200 plus people have posted on our facebook page. you can participate in a poll there at facebook.com/cspan. before we get to the question, to let you know about bernie sanders. he is planning on giving it another go. we began the political revolution in 2016 campaign and its time to move that revolution

forward. as a top the race contender who along with joe biden tops most early polls, far outpacing democratic candidates in support and name identification. campaign videos expected later on sometime today. if that happens during the course of this program, we will let you know. there's an organization known as the american trucking organization making the case for raising fuel taxes to better pay for roads and bridges across the united states. it's in the washington examiner and waste gas because of traffic congestion. $75 billion to the cost of freight and transportation and that caused the impact of the

entire supply chain. our growing economy can only be as strong as the roads and bridges that connect us. a five cent per gallon user fee added to transportation fuel each year in four years including diesel gasoline and natural gas would be applied to the wholesale terminal rack -- it retail gas and would -- the revenue would be willing to shoulder a large share of the $340 billion the .ew plan would generate when it comes to roads and bridges, there is something called the infrastructure report card put out by the society of engineers that takes a look at this issue. here is the grade they gave in 2017. they gave the condition of roads -- -- ina d overall

the u.s. a d overall. chronically underfunded and becoming more dangerous. two out of every four miles are congested and traffic delays cost $160 billion in wasted time and fuel. one of every five miles of highway pavement is in poor condition and roads have significant and increasing backlog. it goes on from there and that it --t the sections when section when it comes to roads. comes to improving infrastructure in the united states and whether you see it as taxesof meeting increased or maybe other ways in your mind as far as improving that, here is how you can let us know. 202-748-8000 in the eastern and central time zone. in the mountain and pacific time zone, 202-748-8001. new hampshire up first where

barry is. thanks for calling. caller: good morning. by all means raise the fuel taxes. the roads are abysmal. in one of my local towns, there is a pothole that must be three feet wide and two feet deep. it is destroying our automobiles. we have become like a third world country. it's a result of all of these wars we fought and -- the wars are bad enough, to not pay for them when you fight them is crazy. we are really in a race to the bottom. if you raise the fuel taxes, you will encourage people to buy more for -- by more fuel-efficient cars and there should be incentives for people areiuy newer cars that

fuel-efficient. with more fuel-efficient vehicles, you need to raise the tax and it needs to be influenced to inflation. the tax may have been adequate 20 years ago, but it is not. host: you think the raising of taxes will lead to the improvement of roads and other things? caller: only if the money is readligently spent and i years ago in france when they put out a contract to build a road, the contractors obligated -- the contractor is obligated to repair that road for nothing like 10 years afterwards. if you build a lousy road, you will fill in the potholes. there needs to be a totally new system of building the roads. thanks very much, you caught me at the right time. i just spent $1000 on winter tires and wheels and they are being destroyed on the highway.

host: $1000 is directly related to the pothole situation you were telling about earlier? caller: yes, i bought a new set of winter tires and dedicated wheels. i swapped them over in the wintertime. when you are driving and hit a pothole that can destroy your tire, that is pretty bad. this does happen. host: north carolina is next. this is johnny, hello. my tv: i am trying to get to turn off, it will not turn off. host: go ahead. caller: i am calling because all they have to do is take back that tax they gave last year, the tax cut they gave last year and that would take care of any road repairs. host: what is the road situation where you live? caller: it is god awful.

you have two feet wide and two -- i was sox cut upset with that tax cut last year. i know that could have taken care of the problem. host: the tax cut is one thing, what about the idea of raising gas taxes? caller: we don't need to raise anymore taxes in this country. we have adequate taxes, they are just in the wrong place. the taxes need to be raised on the people who can afford to pay them. taxes now on seeing-eye dogs, stuff you don't need to be having taxes on. there is plenty of money being taxed, but you need to put it on the right thing. host: that is johnny's experience. when it comes to the infrastructure report card from the society of civil engineers, when it comes to bridges they give overall the condition of

+ saying the you has -- u.s. has almost four in 10 bridges 50 years or older. structurallywere deficient and on average, there were 188 million trips across a structurally deficient bridge each day. the average age of america's bridges keeps going up and many bridges are approaching the end of their design life. this idea of infrastructure in the u.s. and how it can be improved. argument in asome recent op-ed when it comes to increasing taxes. this is dexter, go ahead. caller: i am a truck driver. i have been a truck driver since 2011. we cannot afford anymore taxes

on our payroll checks. i live in washington, d.c. and they don't pay enough to pay the rent. to add on more taxes on us, the whome who work every day are basically paying the bills because every dollar i make, before i even get it, it is taxed. then i have to pay tax on everything i buy. i have to pay rent, insurance, everything. you are telling me i nee -- need to pay more taxes when all the money in this country is going to the top? it doesn't make any sense. host: what kind of freight do you drive? is it daily or out-of-state? roloff dumpster driver. host: when you drive around, you don't pay for the fuel yourself? caller: the company pays for the

fuel. the company pays for the fuel, from theu take money company, at the end of the year when they give us raises, it will be smaller. we are supposed to get -- they are going to take that money they are paying in taxes and transfer it to us. that is what all the companies in america do. they transfer to the consumer by raising the prices of goods. it is not going to work for us because we are struggling as it is every time we pay our bills, we are basically broke. one check away from poverty. all of us are like that. everybody i know. host: that is dexter's experience in washington, d.c. as a trash driver in the district. maybe you drive over the road if you are a truck driver, maybe you commute daily. you can give your take on the

infrastructure condition in the u.s. and how to improve that. 202-748-8000 for those of you in the eastern and central time zones. 202-748-8001 in the mountain and pacific time zones. the president used part of his state of the union to express his desire to work with congress, democrats and republicans in congress to improve infrastructure in the u.s. here is some of the tape he had during the state of the union. [video clip] >> both parties should be able to unite for a great rebuilding of america's crumbling infrastructure. [applause] i know that congress is eager to pass an infrastructure bill and i am eager to work with you on legislation to deliver new and important infrastructure investment including investments

in the cutting edge industries of the future. ais is not an option, this is necessity. host: the associate press highlighting the fact the -- did notowed propose a plan until 13 months into his term. it called for using $200 billion of federal funds -- largely funded by states, cities, and the private sector. great falls virginia is next. , hello.been, how -- ben caller: my suggestion would make it have a rebuilding bond series that the bonds are exempt from the federal and state. it would be straightforward and easy and would not be additional tax. we have had some of these bond a

series years ago in the past and it did work. it is straightforward, simple, and accountable and directly related to the infrastructure which somebody -- everybody has been taking a backseat on and not responsible for managing that at all. host: how would you sell this idea of bonds to the general public? caller: excellent question. i would basically keep it simple. we all have a responsibility of rebuilding the infrastructure of america. this is an easy, simple way of going to your x -- find a source -- to buy a bond. you make it somewhat competitive, make it exempt from all the taxes for the local level, state level and federal so you do not make it a political mess and the money goes to the federal government that will rebuild these roads

that everybody is acknowledging -- and the bridges that we need money. it is a nonpartisan issue and everybody should be able to rebuild america together regardless of if you are independent, republican, or democrat. host: from massachusetts, sam is next. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call and i listen to c-span and watch it every single day. you know why? that is the only place you can get the truth. what i do when i want potholes fixed. i am a commuter and i drive an hour every day. a mileotholes, i take marker if i am on the highway and i call it in and take a picture when i can and i wait for you guys to fix it. i have been after a certain stretch of highway for a year for them to fix it. you know what they do?

they put two scoops of raisin in the bowl and they may smash it down or not and weeks later, the same pothole. it takes 20 years to do anything in this state because nobody can get a job with the state and they work at their own pace, which is slow. ist: you are saying it temporary fixes more than permanent fixes? caller: it is not even a fix. i go on route nine east and west id icy the same potholes -- see the same potholes and i call and call and nothing gets done until i say give me your boss. does anybody go out and check? host: what is your response when you get to that level? if you talk to the boss, what response do you get? caller: you know when you turn run.ight on, rats -- they

to shake the tree because they suck. sucks in this state that works for the state. experience,s sam's taking pictures of all potholes and reporting it to the proper authorities. you can give your thoughts on the condition of infrastructure. we wanted to hear how you would improve it whether through raising taxes and other means and that is what we are focusing on, that report card. when it comes to transit in united states, that society of civil engineers gave it a d-. transit in america continues to grow, carrying 10.5 billion trips in 2015 and adding new lines and systems yet the symptoms of overdue maintenance and underinvestment have never been clearer. the transit systems have been chronically underfunded resulting in aging infrastructure and a $90 million

-- $90 billion rehabilitation backlog. many americans have inadequate access to public transit. you can roll those thoughts or if you are affected by the transit situation, you can roll that into the conversation. john in florida, you are next up. good morning. read an article from about two years ago and there are 14 items about what benefits these illegal aliens are getting . point -- $538.3 billion a year. that is enough to pay for our infrastructure, our veterans, our military, our roads. host: we will go to fred in

massachusetts. caller: how are you doing? i wanted to let you know that tax business on the fuel is not going to help anything because when they get all the taxes on the fuel and every other tax they have, they are just going to spend it whatever way they the pensionsoff that are underfunded. the guy that called earlier about the bonds is a pretty good idea. otherwise, you will have to have congress pass the funds and dedicate it to the roads. we are paying- enough taxes and not getting anything done. --ant to shout out to dave host: when it comes to this idea of repairing roads, is this a federal thing or what responsibility to states have?

caller: i think they should run it through the state. congress should put the money aside so it doesn't get all messed up with every other thing in the government payments they have. once you do the taxes, it never goes to what they say it should go to. if every dime of the gas tax had gone to fixing the roads, we would have the best roads in the world. it would look like disney world across the country. all that money gets squandered and it pays per pensions for 50ple that are retired 45, years ago. we have got the money, you just have to get it isolated to the transportation. host: our last caller from massachusetts talked about the pothole situation. is that your experience? fred, are you there? tim in north

carolina. you are next up. caller: how are you today? host: fine, thanks. go ahead. caller: i have got an idea. why don't we get a separate fund that doesn't have anything to do with the government or the state and put an engineer and a company that does nothing but roadwork and have a separate funding for that through the states, through the federal government. don't let anybody touch this money. have a commission over this like an independent commission and when the time comes to do the repairs, don't let all these state workers do it, have independent contractors do it. make sure there is oversight on this when it is done. you have to remember demographics, places that have snow will be worst than the southeast and places out west will be worse. lastly, did you see where albuquerque, new mexico, spent

$133 million to get electric trains and buses and cars -- not cars, buses and a train system and they scrapped? the whole system $133 million and they are going to have to sue the contractor because the state did not do oversight on this. it is incredible to me. it host: you brought up transit. it did you have issues for the cost or the fact it was using electric. why do you highlight that? caller: how in gods name do you take 133 millions dollars -- $133 million -- you could have gotten a high speed rail to at least start it and move onto something else. how do you do that and scrap a whole system with $133 billion -- $133 million? host: i will see if we can pull up that albuquerque story.

if you go to the new york times, there are pictures regarding an experimental type of transportation. this is a closed loop system using air to push people up to several hundred miles per hour to get to one place or another. this is some of the pictures. some of the story in the new york times saying virgin hyperloop one is testing this radically different system. it aims to move people as cargo in a vacuum to with speeds exceeding 600 miles per hour. the swiftest rail travel at top speeds less than half that fast will become a quaint and akron is a -- an anachronism. minimizes airre resistance and reduces the power needed. they are not subject to

shutdowns because of harsh weather like snow or polar vortexes. indiana is next, charles in jasper. good morning. charles in jasper. people haveamerican to work together to make our country really great again. god bless them. host: when it comes to infrastructure, how do you think they can work together on this topic? caller: they just have to get down to the basics and make our country strong again when it comes to infrastructure. host: indiana was one of the states that used public-private partnerships to pay with some roles -- roads with tolls being used. do you use those roads? caller: i think it is working pretty good. as best they can, i guess. vivian in tennessee.

caller: hello. i ask this question of myself -- like two years now [inaudible] bill gates and warren buffett could do the whole infrastructure of the united .tates, but they don't do it i am on a computer right now looking at all the 2019 billionaires in america. there is no philanthropy in america. they all want to go overseas and spend their money overseas instead of taking care of their whole country -- own country. they could have our whole infrastructure completed. that is all i have to say.

host: why leave it just up to the philanthropy and not the federal government or state government? caller: because look at our debt. debt.ld take care of our philanthropists in our country to put the money in our country. host: the associated press quotes the chairman of the house transportation committee, peter defazio of oregon. he is saying let me be clear, that question is not whether we need to invest when it comes to infrastructure, but when we will invest. congress must act to provide significant federal dollars to invest in u.s. infrastructure. the chairman gave a speech at a hearing -- recent speech at an event taking a look at infrastructure and he talks about the federal role he thinks the government should play when it comes to improving roads,

bridges, and transit. [video clip] >> we are in a crisis with our infrastructure in this country. i would go around giving speeches talking about how it would become third world. you know how bad it is, bridges -- it is insulting to third world countries because they are investing a higher percentage of their gdp and infrastructure than we are. that is true. if you look around the world, we are under investing living on the legacy of the eisenhower and reagan era as it relates to transit. that's a long time ago. congress hasn't raised the federal gas tax since 1993, yet three dozen states have done that. nore have been virtually political consequences. the american people are tired of sitting in traffic, tired of the potholes. those of you in the freight business are tired of the delays

and the uncertainty that comes with this deteriorated infrastructure and we have got to step up to this and it cannot wait. host: the topic of infrastructure and how to improve it in the united dates will be our topic for the next half hour. we have heard some ideas involving taxation and other things. you can add your opinion to the mix. 202-748-8000 for those of you in the eastern and central time zones. in the mountain and pacific time zones. this is from kentucky. plain and simple, during world war ii, they had war bonds . now they have savings bonds. how come you can have infrastructure bonds question ? bonds.ple buy that money goes straight to the

treasury. the treasury could put it toward infrastructure. that is my comment. host: do you think people will buy in to that if bonds were offered? caller: yeah. host: why do you think it would work today? caller: they would work today because look -- you buy bonds, look at the entrance -- insurance you make -- interest you make off of it when the bond matures. ok? host: massachusetts is next. i think it is the third caller from massachusetts this morning. carol, go ahead. those: i am a victim of potholes, too. i think it has something to do with global warming. i hate to say that. strange weather where it gets cold at night and warm the next goes up and down and up and down. we have huge holes.

-- are little bit slow at getting fixed. they cannot fix them too early because they will have to put it all back. in the time of the depression, they had a lot of people out of work. put them all the work on public projects like parks and -- excuse me. go to barry in georgia. good morning. how are you? caller: i am fine for it how are you? host: i am well, thanks. caller: as far as infrastructure, i wanted to make the statement clear we have trucks on the roads each and every day. i have two trucks and we are charged $75.

all trucks have impact fees. where is that money going? host: you are saying it is not going for infrastructure? i pay: one of my trucks, $75. the other truck is like 95. all these trucks are here. where is the money going? that is what it is for. host: how much of the money you spend on fuel is made up of taxes currently and what do you think of the idea of raising taxes to pay for infrastructure improvements? caller: that is not a good idea to just continue raising taxes. raising taxes is not good. everybody cannot afford to keep paying taxes. host: what type of driving do you do? caller: it is basically like towing. basically that.

when you are saying the bigger trucks -- they have a high fee. i have a smaller truck and i am paying like $75. where is the money going? that is what that is for, the road impact fee. host: when it comes to the roads in georgia, how would you grade it? caller: they are fine. the roads here are fine. host: why do you think that works in your area as opposed to others? ifler: what i am saying is you have these semi's going all across the country, they are paying impact fees when they renew their registration. host: joe in buffalo, new york, you are next up. caller: good morning.

i live up here in buffalo, new york. it is terrible somebody gets paid to do a job and it is half the job you pay for. let me get this straight, we billion on our military last year? i don't know anybody in the military that makes good money or lives a good life. are not sure our priorities screwed up. our roads here are terrible and they come behind and throw that cold patch in a whole. i fix things in my life. i would never fix anything like that. who is throwing their money away throwing cold patch in a hole. 2020n do so many things and we cannot fix a pothole. we just need more money for the things the people need. host: that money should come

from the federal government directly? is just anl, it awful lot of money. we need to do something a little better with the cash we are throwing away. thank you. ohio, you wilma in are next. good morning. caller: yes, i just wanted to say instead of sending the money that we send to other countries to rebuild their roads and infrastructure, just keep it here in ohio and our country. thank you. host: give us a sense of the road conditions in ohio. wilma hung up. for the next 25 minutes, your thoughts on improving infrastructure in the united states. in the eastern and central time .ones, 202-748-8000 in the mountain and pacific time zones, it is 202-748-8001. we told you -- took a bit of

time to tell you other news. we told you about bernie sanders' announcements. elizabeth warren is set to release a proposal for universal childcare today according to the huffington post. why it matters, the ask the us story says this could make childcare a more prominent issue in the 2020 electoral -- election. according to details, a source familiar with the proposal told ask the us access to childcare would be free for any family living under 200% of the poverty line, but no family would ever pay more than 7% of their income for access to childcare. booker, ames to cory website sides and interview they did when he talks about the state of amazon in new york city. jim roberts saying the anger and finger-pointing has not led up

there over the decision by amazon to abandon plans for a local and new headquarters. clearr cory booker sees a next step, bring hq2 to newark. officials in new jersey's largest city reached out to the retail and technology colossus. we want hq2. we have sent that message out and everyone from the governor to mayors and local leaders have been reaching out. that is some of the news involving presidential candidates. bernie sanders stopping that news with the announcement he plans to run for the democratic nomination. a campaign video expected later today. he made those comments at a vermont obligor radio station. from virginia, hello. caller: how are you this morning? host: i am fine, thanks.

go ahead. caller: good. about eight years ago they wanted to widen the road in front of my house. it took them a little over two years and it was a one mile stretch. i leave my driveway in the morning and it would be like for five guys sitting on each side of the driveway and i would pull out and see eight or 10 brand-new vehicles with their lights flashing and a bunch of guys with ties standing around talking and i would go to work. i would come back and most guys would be gone, there would be a few guys standing around and one guy working and everybody else watching and i would come back in the driveway and see those same guys sitting on the driveway. i asked and they said we can only work 20 minutes at a time. we worked 20 minutes, take 20 minutes off. it took forever.

whenan you get things done you have to pay so much and you have so many rules and regulations and problems when you try to build something? put ine, widen the road, a sidewalk, two years. host: it is a regulation issue more than a money issue? caller: i don't know, you tell me. if you are only working 20 minutes, it is going to take you a lot longer to do it. i am sure they get paid while they are sitting there those 20 minutes. doneannot get anything that way. i am a small business owner and i pay attention to productivity, if you will. believe me when i tell you, government, there is none. everything they do, everything they touch, everything they are in control of costs way too much money. i am $30,000 a year out of

pocket now, every year it costs me that much out of pocket for my wife and i. roads,hen it comes to where is midlothian in relation to virginia and what are the roads like? caller: it is a suburb of richmond. the project turned out pretty good. they did a priest -- decent job getting it done, it just took them forever and it is because they sit as much as they work. when they were, they are not quick workers. host: are the roads generally around the richmond area in good condition? caller: they are pretty good. when it snows and we get a lot of ice, here come the potholes. the guys in new jersey, new york, the northern states -- they have got to expect bad roads. you would have to redo them every year because of the snow and ice. when you do a poor job fixing them, they get worse faster. those guys will need extra

money, which i hate to send any money to the northeast. their roads are tougher up there. host: ronald outside richmond giving his thoughts. chris spear who wrote the op-ed we started this hour with highlights one of the things when it comes to infrastructure, something known as public-private partnerships, a when the for tolling money wasted is on administrative collection and enforcement cost adding americans are growing weary of the high cost of tolls. at a recent senate hearing, crispier was one of those people who testified on the state of infrastructure. here is what he had to say. [video clip] --federal inaction aggressive revenue schemes that hurt commuters and divert funds to not infrastructure primordial

-- priorities. no further than i-66 minutes away from this hearing room. a year ago this short patch of interstate went to congestion pricing. a result, commuters now pay peak toll of $47 and $.50 one way one day one road. for many who cannot afford peak prices, they are either forced to drive through residential areas and school zones or navigate a costly maze of public transportation connections often delayed or down due to underinvestment. under the build america fund, that same driver paying for a 10 mile stretch would pay two dollars a week for all roads and bridges in the united states. host: here is tim joining us from tennessee. go ahead. caller: thank you for taking my call.

when we are talking about infrastructure -- [inaudible] me stop you.t i am going to put you on hold only because the connection you have with us is a really poor one. could you maybe reposition yourself and see if there is somewhere better you are at? up until that point, let's hear from steve. steve in arizona, go ahead. caller: good morning, juan. how are you doing? hope everyone is doing good this morning. i wanted to make a comment after world war ii they brought in a program called the wta and they improved the infrastructure all over america as far as what i could ascertain. they don't teach you about that in schools and stuff anymore. being a driver that has driven a lot of miles over roads of various states and places, it always seems the more affluent

areas or counties seem to have good roads with very few potholes. it is like it is a money priority. if the county has the money, they have the good roads. goesey don't, the priority away. what are your thoughts on that. ? host: let me ask you about sierra vista. if that is the case, when it comes to road conditions, how would you describe them and how does it relate to how the -- they take care of roads there? caller: that is a good point. i forgot to mention that. they could take a lesson from arizona because arizona's roads are not in that bad of a shape. whatoney dictates who gets and what kind of commerce is going over those roads. if it is bringing money in, then they want to keep the roads running good.

if it is an area that is going on the down, they are not so concerned. it always seems to be about the money. a bond caller mentioned program. that would work, too. that is a good idea. i know we are paying a lot of money for gas. they could put a couple extra in a roadgallon -- tax on gas for everybody that buys gas. we heard people call about the conditions of potholes for states that have snow, what is the impact of heat and humidity and such and so forth on the roads in arizona? caller: i have snow outside right now, this morning, believe it or not. we are affected by snow at times although it is not a great place to get snow. don't know, they seem to do a

good job. they come out right away and fix things. i don't know if people are calling, but they seem to keep the roads in pretty good shape. impact know the economic of the residence of my county, how high their taxes are. imo renter and i am retired living on social security. i don't drive all that much anymore because i cannot afford to. when i do, i usually don't have a problem getting around as long as i stay on good, main roads. rake the dirt ones when they get washed boarded bad enough. thanks, steve, i appreciate you telling us about arizona's experience.

the civil society of engineers looked at three states, washington, georgia, and north dakota about their report card grading. washington state earned a c. the score is the same grade washington earned on the last report card in 2013. the scorecard assessed aviation, bridges, dams, drinking water, roads, and the like. the road score inched up from a d+ to a c-. richard fernandez said the population growth poses the biggest challenge to infrastructure needs. the population has grown by more 2010.00,000 since georgia earned an overall c plus on the january 23 scorecard, also basing -- facing a booming population. the population grew from 9.7 million in 2010 to 10.5 million in 28 -- 2008 saying freight is

important in georgia. nation's worst freight bottlenecks created the cochairman of the report said members started planning to create the first scorecard in 20, roads earning a b-. more funding will be needed in the next few years to maintain roads. those could be your three states, maybe you could give your relation or personal experience to some of those road conditions. elaine joins us from missouri. you are next up. go ahead. caller: thank you. good morning. this is such an excellent program overall. imust say a couple years ago they video on roads and

were really highlighting that we and ifave heated roads we plan correctly and use you -- use new technology, we will not be faced with cot holes during heatble winters if we those roads. i think we need to look at infrastructure and we should take a closer look at our water system. urban cities are very old, so it makes sense we need to .hange out water pipes our country is not paying high gas prices when you look at the global market. when my daughter was in eighth ago, sherly 15 years did a report on the high cost of

and we areroad paying hardly anything for gas when you look at how other countries -- how much other countries are paying for gasoline. host: do you recall as much as the other countries are paying generally from the report your daughter did? caller: right, yeah. at that time, i think we were andly paying two dollars countries like -- where was it? they were already paying five dollars a gallon. it was ridiculous. host: that is elaine in missouri. most of the papers, if you look at them this morning, highlight a story many are focusing on according to the state 16 overall filing a lawsuit against the trump administration over the president upon declaration

of a natural emergency in order to -- national emergency to pay for the border wall. the attorney general leading the charge. when it comes to the president talking about this lawsuit, he sends out via tweet, as i predicted, 16 cities mostly led by open border democrats filed a lawsuit in the ninth circus -- 9th circuit out of california. that is the highlighting of the president of the united states. when it comes to this issue -- the border issue, thomas is next in georgia. a lot of georgians and ans calling this morning. caller: the amount of money being collected from the fuel taxes is unbelievable.

i believe there should be some kind of oversight where the money is going because we do have good roads. some of the states that collect less taxes. take an example from georgia to south carolina. south carolina collects less taxes and the roads are better than in georgia. better oversight how the money is spent i think will go the long way. how much do taxes comprised of fuel cost? caller: i don't have the numbers, but there is a substantial amount of money that you pay at the fuel pump. look at the amount of trucks that go down the road. everybody is paying a huge amount of money into the federal government. the federal taxes on the fuel is substantial. in idaho. is steve good morning. caller: i hope things are going

well for you this morning. host: thank you. get kind am trying to of a problem i will put to you. togetherand asphalt go in the cost of oil is low, everybody wants to build paved roads. when that gets too high, all of a sudden concrete roads start looking good. -- governs how you build the roads and they come out of california where they have a lot of cement roads. they might work in california. out here in the intermountain area where you have this great temperature rise and lower, you frost ea that do certain eaves that dorost certain things to asphalt and

mixed paving. orbe ground up tires recycling glass and use that in place of aggregate in the road, it might help work. that is all i had to say. host: how would you rate the condition of not only the local roads you travel, but the highway if you travel a highway? caller: i would go along with the national average, about a b- to a c. i don't think they are all that great. eaton's needs to be provided for the roadway once it is built. antiskidto sweep off and stuff that has been on the road, old seal coats. if you sweep that off the shoulder, you don't get what they call transverse and parallel cracking, which looks like alligator skin, that's the first time in the spring, that is when it pops up and out she

goes and then you have a great big pothole. host: from jeff in new york. go ahead. caller: hello. good morning. officials waste our money in other countries, especially the middle east, and wars all over the world. host: how does that apply to infrastructure conditions as far as how to approve that? you think the money should be used for that -- those projects? caller: they should spend taxpayers money on infrastructure. they are wasting the money. host: how would you rate the infrastructure in new york? caller: it is good. in new york, it is really good. host: what part of new york do you live in? serious watere

problem in flint, but they don't want to solve it. it's about policy. from rita joins us phoenix, arizona. good morning. caller: good morning. i have been listening for a while now and some of the comments really make sense and some of them don't make any sense at all, to me. thatnally, it is my belief there is more than enough money coming in from the tax base. unfortunately, what is happening is the output of it is going to all these other places and it bothers me that we are not taking care of our own, first. --hink if we stop spending sending billions to afghanistan and billions to rebuild japan and france, then somebody has a

crisis and we guarantee this much money and that much money. we need to stop doing that. we are not fiscally responsible enough in our government to continue that kind of giving away. we need to reallocate those ourselves and personally, i don't know how minnesota did it, but when the bridge collapsed a few years back, they had it completely rebuilt within months. i can tell you, in arizona, when we have no snow to speak of, at least in the phoenix area and all that, it takes years to do a few miles of highway or a bypass. it is absolutely ridiculous. i don't know how they did it in minnesota, but i think we should

talk to them and get our workers in line with how they did it with their workers. then i think we need to keep our money here in our country instead of promising it out and giving it away to all these other countries. if we have it, that would be wonderful, but we don't anymore and we are in tremendous debt. host: rita from phoenix, arizona. of the hill reporting one of the end result issues that was an aftereffect of the november elections was north carolina ninth congressional district. john bowden saying the contested race could be headed for a do over if state election boards declare the results of november's contest in valid saying election officials in whether leslie-- mcrae dallas, and north carolina political obdurate -- operative

led an illegal ballot gathering operation to favor republicans. lisa britt, a woman who said she worked for dallas during the election testified dallas directed her to gather and -- filled and unfilled absentee ballots and return them to him. such a practice is illegal in closecarolina where only family members can handle a person cost absentee -- handle a person's absentee ballot. adding operatives who testified argued that harris was not involved and likely had no knowledge of the operation. that is in the hail. john is next from mississippi. caller: good morning, pedro. thank you for c-span. i have been listening since the top of the hour and i cannot believe the bellyaching over a

few cents on a gas tax. five cents to fill your gas up 20 gallons, we are talking a dollar and the first man that called and was talking about his front end alignment and all the tires he had to buy, it is incredible. host: you are saying increasing the gas tax is not that big of a deal? caller: it is not. is used,he word tax the right wing ideology freaks out and politicians won't do it because everyone is afraid of the word t-a-x. host: when it comes to the roads, do you think people are getting value for their tax dollar? caller: yes. . am familiar with dot they are hard-working people. most of the construction is outsourced to contractors. only maintenance is done by

d.o.t.'s. host: our last call of this hour. first up, we will hear from james antle, the editor of the american conservative. hear fromlk-- later on we will the arms control association's guest, on the upcoming summit between the united states and north korea. those conversations coming up on washington journal. ♪ >> there are over 100 new faces in the u.s. capitol after last year's elections, including senator josh hawley, he previously served two years as that states attorney general. earlier in his career he worked

for a nonprofit that does legal advocacy for religious freedom issues, and taught at the university of missouri law school. he's now the youngest member of the u.s. senate. kansas representative sharice davids is often described as a former mixed martial arts fighter, but she's also an attorney who worked on economic development in tribal issues. she's the first openly gay person to represent kansas in washington, d.c., and one of the first two native american women elected to congress, along with deb haaland. of kansas district elected steve watkins, a former u.s. army captain and military contractor who suffered a traumatic rain injury and posttraumatic stress disorder from his service in afghanistan. the congressmen took up dogsled racing while stationed in alaska , and participated in the iditarod twice. he also tended to climb mount everest but six members of his team died in the 2015 nepal

earthquake, stopping the ascent. congress aheaded of most freshman, last year he replaced his predecessor, who resigned to become the nasa administrator. he also has an interest in space, he was pursuing a phd in astronomical engineering when the challenger explosion changed his career plans. instead he purchased a mcdonald's restaurant, and that led to purchasing 18 more mcdonald's in the tulsa area. representative kendra horn also has strong ties to the aerospace industry. she's a former executive at a nonprofit that advocates for the industry. earlier in her career, she was press secretary to brad carson and she has also been an attorney in private practice. before her election to congress, she was a consultant for communication technology -- for a communication technology company.

new congress, new leaders, watch it on c-span. >> washington journal continues. the: jim antle serves as editor of the american conservative. he joins us this morning. your most recent column for the magazine, how paul ryan turned the president into jeb bush. what's the argument? guest: he ran for president on some themes that differentiated him from the 2016 republican field. and he really deferred a lot to republican congressional leadership during the first two years in office, and sometime in december, after losing the midterm elections he said wait a minute, i made these campaign promises and they are not fulfilled. it will be hard to get them fulfilled now that democrats control the house. that's when you saw the president call for getting out ouryria, winding down presence in afghanistan, when you saw him get more hard-core

about getting funding for a border wall. but he does not have unified control of the federal government anymore, democrats control the house, they control the purse strings, constitutionally speaking, and they don't have much incentive to hand to many legislative victories ahead of the 2020 election. so when he's looking to do things like build a wall, or end the endless wars, as he put it in the state of the union, that's tougher to do now that the opposition is in control of at least half of congress. host: he doesn't have paul ryan, he has mitch mcconnell, is that a value? guest: certainly mitch mcconnell is a value in terms of getting judges confirmed and getting his cabinet picks, since he does have turnover there. mitch mcconnell is a good legislator, but one thing he has in common with paul ryan is that he is not necessarily committed to some of the agenda items that were uniquely president trump

during the primary campaign. host: so it's a difference of philosophy? guest: i think it's somewhat a difference of philosophy and a difference in strategy and tactics. president trump is the president because he won pennsylvania and michigan. i don't think some of the standard republican agenda items were the reason he was able to pull out narrow victories in that space. to thent trump's path electoral college majority really relies heavily on being able to satisfy and turn out these working-class -- white working-class voters. it's not clear that a corporate tax cut will get the job done in that department. host: this is jim antle, if you want to ask him questions for republicans (202) 748-8001, for democrats (202) 748-8000, for independents (202) 748-8002.

front and center of the presidents agendas the national emergency, what do you think about that route versus going to congress? guest: certainly there are constitutional questions, yes there is a national emergency statute, which is what the president is invoking as his way of getting this done. that was not necessarily intended to be an end run around the normal appropriations process where you can declare an emergency anytime you cannot persuade congress to go along with your priorities on a practical level because of those questions. it does complicate the building of the wall and getting that started because that means that process, since it was not funded by congress, it will be tied up in the courts, there will be lawsuits. there are already states suing to block the president under using his emergency powers in this fashion. there is a statute that president obama signed that does allow some money to be directed towards border fencing.

the president has said that he is going to use that statute as well, and they might try to spend that money first. there i think he is on stronger legal ground, and it will be less likely that that will be tied up in the courts. if he does that first they might be able to get some of what he wants to do done. but the emergency powers is going to be a contentious issue, as the president said when he announced it on friday, he expect did that he would have some unfavorable court rulings, particularly in the ninth circuit and it would end up at the supreme court and see what happens. host: when it comes to congressional republicans, how much support do you think he will get from them, considering the route he is taking? guest: it's going to create problems, congressional republicans are afraid of the president -- of the precedent it will set, they don't want to democratic president to come in and say climate change is a national emergency so i'm going to spend money that you didn't authorize me to spend.

gun violence is a going to do all kinds of executive action on that. i think those scenarios are more far-fetched, this is about reprioritizing money that the federal government had already there are definitely questions tied up in that. that's easier to do than to suddenly declare an emergency and grab $42 trillion that you don't have and have not raised. which is what they estimate the green new deal would cost. republicans are concerned about that. i think you will get more support on that, particularly with mitch mcconnell because i think republicans were happy they had averted a second government shut down. they didn't feel like they had anything to show for the government being partially shut -- close for 35 days, it was politically not advantageous for them. it allowed the president to declare the national emergency didn't -- given that he didn't get much of what he wanted and

the spending bill he reluctantly signed. that's a face-saving way out for the president, i think some republicans in congress, even if they're not wild about this approach, will give him the face-saving approach. host: will this bog down the rest of the issues the president will want to focus on before the election? guest: it certainly creates a scenario where a lot of this is going to be about framing the 2020 election, and setting up a contrast with democrats ahead of that election. it's going to be difficult for him to get things done, but he's going to be able to paint democrats as obstructionist and radical in immigration policy and border security. he will paint them as being opposed to even very basic enforcement positions. whether that works, it didn't work well in the midterm election, at least on the house side. it worked all right in the red state senate races but that remains to be seen.

a lot of those chances for 2020 do hinge not only on what he does but what the democrats do with the power the voters gave them in the midterm election. what is the american conservative for those not familiar with that? -- a bimonthlynk print magazine and website where news on on news and -- traditional conservative issues and political philosophies. host: you serve as the editor in the first call comes from washington, d.c. on the democrats line, jeremy, you are on. go ahead. caller: good morning. good morning to you and good morning to your guest. thank you for taking my call, i really appreciate this show. keep up the good work. i feel like this is no longer about politics, this is a clear and present danger to freedom and democracy.

the president's speech seems like typical lies, distortions. and it marks something more , a dissenting to tierney. i think president trump's declaration is a usurpation of the constitution, congress, and the american people. the fact that a national emergency is now whatever the president says, what more emergencies will come next? perhaps the next emergency is the result of the next rigged election, or holding an election at all, or traders in congress intraders --traitors congress, if he can circumvent the law why would he stop there? guest: that is an argument people are using against the indication of emergency powers. what he is invoking is much more

limited than say overturning a law, or challenging election results, or imprisoning your political opponents. it's really about whether certain money that the government already has is going to be spent in the military budget, whether he can reprioritize that outside of the normal appropriations process. there is an argument that that is a usurpation of powers that are legitimately congresses -- congress's under the constitution. there's also an argument that passing statutes like the national emergencies act, congress tried to delegate and giveaway some of its legislative powers to the executive branch. it is constitutionally illegitimate to do that, but congress has institutionally played a role in its own marginalization of some of these processes. it did not want to take politically risky votes, even

giving war powers to the executive branch, a lot of oversight powers and regulatory powers to the executive branch as well. i think this is another area where i'm not necessarily sure that the people who pass this law in the 70's -- past of this law in the 70's envisioned that it would be used in the way it's being used now. but we are seeing a shift towards congress being yes -- less the preeminent branch of the federal government and the federal branch -- an executive branch gaining more power. carolina, from north on the republican line. hello. caller: good morning. a fussts are having such over this wall, saying it's not needed. and california is a sanctuary state, nancy pelosi did not want to give one dollar for the wall. i'm wondering why trump does not relocate the walls in california somewhere else, that would save

him money from building another wall. caller,rry about that go ahead. guest: that's going to be a big issue heading into 2020, the democrats said that the -- said the border wall is immoral, nancy pelosi used that word. there is a lot of bipartisan support, maybe not for the wall concept as the president envisions it, but for the idea that there could be some barriers along the border. and resolving the government shutdown, it always seemed like a possible path out, a possible compromise would be fussing with what the rhetorical distinction is, the semantics between fencing, which many democrats do support, and the wall which they are almost uniformly opposed to. i think a lot of the next election is going to be framed on not only do you like border barriers in your own state and sectors of the border, but look

at these rich and powerful people who live in gated communities and have fencing that protects their own homes. if walls are immoral in the context of the border why are you living behind one? i think the president will generate some political hay about that. host: bernie sanders has decided that he wants to take another run, initial thoughts? guest: it's interesting, he certainly did better than most people expected in 2016. he really highlighted that there was some progressive discontent that was not readily america -- apparent when she stepped into the race. it also illustrated how much the democratic party has shifted. shifted -- it certainly less on economics, and somewhere else on social issues. beyond where bernie sanders was really prepared to go, he faced some backlash over immigration and not being is motivated by those issues as

other democrats were. i think this time around the challenges going to be not only his age, but the fact that he does not have that call to himself. he is going to have to share that territory with other candidates. how does he handle that? some of these candidates do better with voters of caller than bernie sanders did. and that was really his weakness -- voters of color than bernie sanders did. he's from vermont, one of the whitest states in the country. his inability to connect with those voters prevented him from seriously threatening hillary clinton's chances. so how does he deal with the fact that he's going to have to compete for the progressive vote, he won't have it all for himself. can he make inroads with minority voters? host: aside from bernie sanders, who is the most progressive in the current field? guest: i think he has to compete with elizabeth warren for those

beens, and she might have an even stronger contender in 2016. the question for warren and sanders, by not doing it at that time, did she let her time pass? is she going to have to deal with the fact that there are multiple progressives in the race? cory booker and kamala harris, despite the fact that their past records might not be totally reflective of this, but they are certainly making a play for these voters now. trying to get some enthusiasm among that part of the base. certainly there are people waiting in the wings like beto o'rourke, who connected with some of these voters on a visceral level. , to some -- amy klobuchar to some extent will compete for those voters but i think she will have a gentler temperament than some of these other democrats to win over some central -- centrist voters.

i think there will be a lot of competition on the left and the question becomes does that pave the way for someone more in the center in the democratic party? some buddy more representative of the establishment? representativee of the establishment? to be moving in an alexandria because you cortez direction overall. host: on the independent line, from philadelphia. caller: good morning, i wanted to ask about what came to light about infanticide, the hippocratic oath has been optional, which forbade abortion and assisting in suicide. there is a new one that adds financial consideration. states have assisted suicide and i wanted to ask,

with unlimited immigration and 30 million illegal immigrants in going tory, are they be encouraged to be good sports and be encouraged to commit suicide, i think that would be an excellent subject for conservatives to bring up and i want to add to this discretion. discussion. clearly abortion legislation in new york and virginia will be a major issue going forward. when you look at the swing voters, when you look at the states, they are actually economically liberal and socially conservative, they are not your typical centrist voters in d.c., who are usually in the reverse. there are a lot of voters in michigan and pennsylvania who may be don't care as much about tax cuts and deregulation that are going to be bothered by the

democratic party going as far as it has on the abortion issue. if you look at a state like virginia, which in recent memory was a red state became purple and prior to the problems with ralph northam and the rest of the democratic leadership of the state it looked like it was turning into a pale blue. it the abortion issue really alter that? clearly that's a popular position in the d.c. suburbs in northern virginia, but the rest of the state, i don't know if that resonates quite as well. match, in new york, on the republican line. in new york, on their public in line. guest: i've been checking out your publications, i want to say that i support the president's measure. the left abandoned any intellectual honesty with regards to the immigration debate a long time ago.

they've never had an honest immigration debate. they are not interested in cooperating or negotiating with the president. they don't face reality. when they are in office they talk about border security, but you can't talk about border security when you are in favor of sanctuary cities. they should all be asked what about sanctuary cities, how can you square supporting sanctuary cities and say that you are tough on the border and you want border security. you cannot occupy two spaces at once like that. as far as them saying what about when there is a democratic president and that they could do an emergency measure for something like climate change. they've always done stuff like that. when obama was in office he authority andve he admitted to it as he did it and the media applauded him for doing it and blames the republicans for being obstructionist. host: we will leave it caller

thank you. guest: as much as people talk about how the trump republicans have become more hardline on immigration we've seen a comparable shift among democrats, where they have really moved to the left on the issue and seem to be raising moral questions about the legitimacy of certain basic border security functions. of certain basic rights in the country to restrict immigration into western and affluent countries. there has been some political backlash against that. i think that will be part of the framing of the 2020 race. as the late george w. bush administration and the early barack obama administration, if you were among those who wanted to pass comprehensive immigration reform you need to show some toughness on border security and immigration enforcement to tilde the credibility needed to pass something like that. -- and credibility needed to

pass something like that. obama moved away from that because he was not getting republican support for the legislation he wanted and his base was becoming increasingly disaffected with obama as the to porter in chief, some were calling him. -- do porter -- the port -- deporter in chief, as some were calling in. a lot of the democratic base did not like the deportations and it was because of that that executive actions on immigration such as daca flowed out of that political environment. tina, from long beach, california on the republican line. caller: my name is tina, thank you for taking my call. i'm an 80-year-old woman who was still working and still paying taxes. nowconfused as to who is

protecting the american taxpayer who is paying for all of this. i am pointing out specifically the border and the people who overstay their visas. are draining our tax system by their medical their economic needs, housing, and all of these other things where they are getting more than our veterans who spent years fighting for this country. that's very confusing to me as a senior citizen. i don't see anyone protecting the taxpayer and i don't see anyone protecting the elderly citizens who could be shoved over and taken our purse. they come into our homes. in other words i'm supporting trump's border. i think the citizen who is a taxpaying citizen has the right

to be protected, physically, and economically. host: thank you caller. guest: president trump is trying to position himself as the protector of voters who shares those concerns. the question will be does a lack of progress on constructing a ofder wall, does a lack permanent changes immigration policy, do those things make those voters feel unsatisfied with the president's performance in those areas? or do they blame the democrats for not going along with the things that the president wants to do. obviously trumbull tried to convince them that the latter -- obvious they trump will try to convince them that the latter is the correct position. but how voters feel about that will determine -- will be a determining factor in the 2020 race. host: let me shave this headline, it says spending fights to resume in washington, one of the paragraph says the

first begins next month as the white house releases its fiscal 2020 budget, it's expected to propose cuts to his questionnaire he spending. do you deny that spending fights are coming back? guest: there will be spending fights, but just as democrats spend on antiwar campaigns but are not antiwar when they come and when -- is controlled the spending process you see a lot of spending and deficits. i think that was certainly true under the george w. bush administration, and it has been true under the trump administration. it was true when republicans controlled both houses of congress. it's going to be even tougher i think, now that you have democrats controlling the house, democrats will then be in charge of the appropriations process. the spending and revenue bills originate on the house side, per the constitution.

and democrats are really becoming open about wanting a lot of new spending commitments, and they believe the questions of how some of those things are thanfor is less important the moral imperative of providing health care and addressing climate change, and stimulating the economy. host: so democrats will turn back to that argument to the tax cuts passed by republicans. guest: $42 trillion versus $2 trillion is a pretty significant difference. yes, that is what they will argue. that republicans were uninterested in how they were going to pay for their tax cut, they were uninterested in how they were going to pay for increases in the defense budget, let's not do all of this bean counting when were talking about money for children, senior citizens, people who need health care. host: from illinois, nick, on the democrats line. caller: i'm actually republican,

my family is all democrat but i will do my best to represent. i find social democrats to be amusing, they said under obama that the aca would fix everything and we are a trillion dollars into that spending, subsidies according to bloomberg on may 23, 2018 cost the government. under trump we need a trillion more dollars for infrastructure, really? i think democrats need to stop with this tit-for-tat politics and do what they are supposed to do. i think president trump and the republicans should take some of the funding that obama got for all of his stimulus packages and legislation and take that money and build a wall. i did have a republican operative in missouri tell me once that he thought the infrastructure spending project would be building a wall. it's an interesting situation passed,u have obamacare

the affordable care act past, whether you agree with it or not it was a major legislative achievement that eluded democrats for many years on the health care front. they were trying to do something along these lines for decades. it is now polling better than it ever has because it represents the health care status quo, it has stopped being eighth threat to the health care status quo. but the legacy of obamacare and how voters perceive it is complicated. and i think an implicit contention of that, even on the democratic side, is enthusiasm on the health care front now is about something entirely different. medicare for all, expanding medicare beyond senior citizens. it doesn't seem so much to be shoring up obamacare. they are making the argument that there are things the trumpet ministration is doing to sabotage the affordable care act -- the trump administration is

doing to sabotage the affordable care act. democratsven the aspire to something greater than the aca. so i think the patchwork of regulations and subsidies, it's complicated with the obamacare will to increase the government's role in health care but remain a recognizably private health care based system. i think those contradictions are starting to really manifest themselves and the debate is going to be do you fix obamacare's flaws by moving it in a more market oriented direction or do you fix them by moving them into a more government oriented direction. i think democrats have a clear cut put it -- position. host: the american conservative.com is the website for the magazine, jim antle is the editor. how are conservative shaped by the trumpet ministration today,

the four you go? administration today, before you go? guest: it's opening up a lot of debate. president trump has expanded the range of voices that we are now hearing, and i think in terms of foreign policy the idea that we don't need a permanent military presence in the middle east is certainly a defensible conservative position under bush and obama we did not hear that as much. we heard it more under trump. despite the fact that the president is not an intellectual man, because he is so heterodox and unconventional he has been -- on thentellectual right. host: we want to get your thoughts on the announcement of bernie sanders on a 2020 presidential run, let us know what you think about that prospect. for republicans (202) 748-8001, for democrats (202) 748-8000,

for independents (202) 748-8002. we will take those calls when we come back. cable satellite corp. 2019] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> c-span is brought to you by your cable or satellite provider. the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. and we will knock these

building -- we will knock this down. the-span's newest book, presidents, noted historians rank america's best and worst chief executives. they dive into the lives of the 44 american presidents, true stories gathered by interviews with noted historians. explore the life events that shaped our leaders, challenges they face and the legacies they have left behind. published by public affairs, we will be -- you can preorder your heart -- your copy today at c-span.org/the presidents. or wherever books are sold. washington journal continues. host: it was on a vermont radio station where senator sanders announced his intentions to run again for president of the united states. his campaign saying that an

announcement would come later on. it has. i amam bernie sanders, running for president. i am asking you today to be part of an unprecedented grassroots million active volunteers in every state in our country. our campaign is not only about defeating donald trump, the most dangerous president in modern american history. it is not only about winning the democratic nomination and the general election. our compete -- our campaign is about transforming our country and creating a government based on the principle of economic, social, racial, and environmental justice. our campaign is about taking on the powerful special interests that dominate our economic and political life. i'm talking about wall street, the health insurance companies, the drug companies, the fossil fuel industry, the military-industrial complex, the

private prison industry, and the large multinational corporations that exert such an indoor miss influence over our lives. oft: that's just a portion the announcement from senator bernie sanders. for the next half hour, your thoughts on his interest in running for president in 2020. for republicans (202) 748-8001, for democrats (202) 748-8000, for independents (202) 748-8002. paula starts us off on our line for democrats, in washington d c. good morning. basic: my concern is very for the presidency, and bernie sanders. i'm really concerned about his age. woman, i'mar-old and i do believe there are opportunities for older americans.

biden, i think it's a strenuous position. and i really do believe that starting at that age may be a problem. concern, and it may be that he will have a vice viable, veryt is viable and can take over. you hate to think that way, but that's my basic concern. jeff,from north carolina, on our republican line. caller: hello. butve two or three things, first of all, with bernie sanders. he represents socialism. it's an amazing, terrible situation where our country has a lot of people thinking that socialism is something that

would be beneficial. it's a terrible system that never works. and one of the reason bernie sanders in the democrats are against building the wall is that once the wall is built than illegal immigration, the illegal immigrants, will not be able to be able to continually coming here and voting illegally and stealing elections. host: this is about bernie sanders announcements, a website , 530 eight.com, talks about his potential to win. here the arguments they make. saying that he enters the 2020 race not as an underdog but as a democratic-socialist leader of the pack. in iowa poll showed him commanding a poll of 19%, second only to joe biden. many 2020 contenders will spend the early days of their

campaigns conveying what campaign they would have and wonder what kind of voters they appeal to, sanders is a known quantity. in a recent poll, 16% of respondents say they did not know what they thought of him compared to 38% who said the same of kamala harris and 29% who don't know what to think of elizabeth warren. engaged voters will know that his brand of populists, free college, $15 minimum wage, medicare for all, and the senator's early charm in 2016 seemed to lie in his harangue is against an unmitigated free-market system and the need for political revolution. in the age of president trump, many democrats might be looking for a pure of heart angry warrior figure in their candidate. caller: how are you doing this morning? host: fine thanks. caller: it's wonderful to hear about bernie sanders, he has wonderful spirit. and forget the socialism deal,

he's definitely for the american people. we are not for russians, where the american people and we are going to move on and straighten out this country. we will bring back americans together, we are knocking to follow the russian lead to separate americans. bernie sanders is the candidate. host: why is he that candidate? caller: because all of his policies are relevant. the taxpayer -- we are sick and tired of releasing our money to the 1% and 2%. we should spread the mouth -- the wealth amongst the american aople who are paying taxes, secretary pays more taxes than a ceo. we are tired of these rich people and all of their money that they make and put it on offshore islands. they're just not paying their taxes. host: let's go to jan, in new york, on the democrats line.

this is my first time calling c-span. i have a lot of things i want to say about bernie sanders. i'm a fairly active democrat in local politics. i'm really concerned about the fact that bernie, i know he's extremely independent and stubborn, but he's not a registered democrat. for anre going to vote old white guy, and i'm an old white lady, i would probably vote for joe biden. he's a unifier. i think that's really important. what i'm looking for in this next election is somebody who is electable. as progressive as my instincts may be, i am more interested in someone who is going to gather people and interest people who

are maybe not quite as liberal as my feelings are. , fromherbert is next maryland, on the democrats line. i'm ready to vote for joe biden or kamala harris p i think joe biden has more experience and he knows more about it than these other guys do. host: why not bernie sanders specifically? couldn't winse he pennsylvania, ohio, or florida. you need someone who can appeal to these people in red states because that's who they have to talk to. you have -- joe willis -- you have to talk to this people in the red states and they will listen to joe. host: from san francisco, good morning. caller: i want to say i am for bernie sanders. i think he's a wonderful man and i don't care what people say about socialism.

to me he stands for everything i want in this country. host: is he electable? do you think he can win? caller: absolutely. i think he will be the winner. host: why this time around versus how he did last time? caller: i think he got cheated last time. he should have been the democratic party runner. but i respect hillary clinton, but i really think bernie sanders is the one. host: there are a lot of people on the democratic field right now, what makes him stand out? caller: what stands out for me is everything he has to say and everything i believe in. i want health care, i want fair taxes, free education. it's time we fight for what we need. host: again for republicans (202) 748-8001, for democrats (202) 748-8000, for independents (202) 748-8002.

host: anne, from portland, oregon. on the democrats line. say, i i would like to never voted for sanders. he ran last time as an independent and he claimed that he would show his taxes and he never did. on top of that, i felt that he was the one that gave the election to trump, because for everything that trump was saying , it was the same thing that bernie sanders was offering to people. he just wanted to take over the party.ats' and i just don't believe that ans the person, he's just old man standing up and grumbling constantly. i don't want to see that. even though i think there was a

time when the republican party voted for ronald reagan, who was an older person, i think today is the only time that an older man is going to be able to take over. hear from barbara, from california, concord, california. good morning. caller: good morning pedro. all i have to say is for me, as a democrat, bernie had his shot in 2016 and he helped screw hillary. my dream team is biden and harris. biden is so liked and dwelt -- and loved. bernie, you're not a democrat, you're an independent. host: what about his policies? she hung up. kamala harris. we have a story from her in new hampshire. this story saying that in the 26 team democratic primary this was

sanders country, but kamala harris saying she won't follow in his footsteps. she distances herself saying she does not run as a democratic-socialist. she spoke on monday as she took questions from reporters during her first in the nation primary state of new hampshire, for the first time since launching her presidential campaign four weeks ago. in missouri, on the democrats line. caller: thank you. i'm a korean veteran. i'm going for missus warren -- mrs. warren. the consumers protection act roque wells fargo and they are now paying billions of money out for some -- for screwing the american people in the public. bernie sanders is great, he's a little old, elizabeth warren is a woman. she will take that vote and run

with it. she's the only candidate that can beat donald trump. thank you for c-span. that asked he is reporting elizabeth warren, senator from massachusetts, is announcing a plan for universal childcare. this is -- a source told the website that access will be free for any family living under 200% of the poverty line. adding no family, regardless of income, would ever pay more than 7% of their income for access to childcare. the plan would cost nearly $700 billion. and a source told ask io's that she played -- planned to pay for this by revenue generated from her wealth tax proposal. if you want to go to the website and read more you can. keith, in indiana, on the republican line. hello. caller: i don't thing sanders has a chance, he's wasting his time. he probably needs to go run a boy scout troop or something.

that alexandria cortez, she was on tv saying during the shutdown that she was happy because i gave her more time to cause trouble. we don't need more trouble, we need problems solved. donald trump is getting the job done. if we get behind him every thing is fine. host: why is sanders a waste of time? caller: he's too old, he is senile, he is set in his ways. he thinks we are all communists. i don't know what cereal he's eating in the morning, but he's way off base. all of these democrats are way off base. and they will end up paying for it. donald trump has it in the bag. not are sitting back and saying much because they know he will win. they can spend all the money they want and they will not get nowhere. he's doing a good job for the country.

dave, in's hear from florida, on the independent line. caller: good morning. i was pleased to see bernie sanders running again. .he man is obviously a kook hopefully he will draw votes away from the hillary types and then trump can get back in there and do the job he has been doing for us. i first voted in 1948 and i've been doing this for a while and i speak from experience. we sure don't need socialism in this republic. thank you for hearing me. host: the hill reporting during a cnn town hall with amy klobuchar of minnesota, talking about a variety of things but this is what the hill picked up on on her reports. saying during the town hall she defended her work record in wake of the reports that found her to

be demanding and abusive, saying that while she is a tough boss she is also a fair one. adding i love my staff and i've had the same people working for me for years. she recounted her previous experience managing a large staff through her career, and highlighting the success she has been a part of. i have a long career of managing people, going back to the private sector. after leaving the private sector , she managed the county attorney's office in minnesota, where she had a very low turnover. she said mia tough boss? yes. do i -- mia tough boss? yes. i asked my staff to meet my expectations. that is from the cnn town hall of they klobuchar, one many 2020 democratic candidates. senator sanders announcing his candidacy this morning. this is from maryland, gloria, hello. caller: good morning, and god

bless you. i'm an 81-year-old blind lady. i'm the african-american preacher you can't get rid of. i was very inspired by senator sanders's first campaign. i was disappointed in the finagling behind the scenes of the democrats. i thought that was a cheap shot. of i happen to be a member his prince george county chapter. i find him extraordinary discriminatory from people with disabilities. they were happy to take my money but did not commute time during the meetings. i would like to see senator sanders speak out on that subject to support him. i need to know he's gonna fight for a level playing field for people with significant disabilities. right now we have no advocate in the national stage. host: on the republican line, david is next, he is in new york. hello. caller: good morning.

i wanted to say that bernie sanders is definitely a socialist. he admits it. i don't see how this country can afford anything that he is proposing. i don't how most of the democrats can get away, or even the republicans can get away with collecting all of this money and not showing anything with where it goes. who gets it, how they get it. nobody shows anything. they just say billions of dollars in trillions of dollars to do infrastructure, to give free school, to give free education, housing, whatever you want. but where does the money come from? how does he get it? host: the new york times this morning takes a look at president barack obama, his role advising democratic candidates and the role he has in politics overall. saying that it was during these informal conversations with

candidates are potential candidates, usually in his office in washington, he offered a combination of supportive advice and several warnings, cautioning candidates that running for president is more punishing than they could ever imagine. according to several people who spoke with him or were briefed on details, mr. obama continues to express frustration he did not anticipate mr. trump's vic reed. -- victory. even after the clash with right-wing populism, he has urged candidates to push back on rhetoric about economic change and deliver a competing message that can resonate even in republican leaning areas. according to -- to republican leaning areas, and rural voters. that's from the new york times. elizabeth, from michigan, hello. caller: i think it's great that he's trying again. he did get screwed out of it last time and the only reason michigan went to trump was because over 80,000 people in

for aan did not vote presidential candidate. they voted down ballot but they left it out because they did not want hillary, and apparently they were too stupid to realize how bad it was going to be in what they were gonna get. i think it's great he's running. i think the perception of what socialism is needs to be explained. because some of them do sound jobs,eft-wing, not nut not like the right, but they need to say what socialism is. it has been a part of this country for decades. roosevelt had socialist programs. they term it a bad word and it's not. it's not like socialism from south america, or eastern europe. and they really need to clean up the perception. host: what do you think bernie sanders should do differently this time around? think his rhetoric is maybe a little too blustery.

there's nothing wrong with being adamant about what you believe in and want to do, but i have heard were different town halls, maybe he yells too much and people get put off by that. but i don't know what he could do different, he's honest, out there, and he's in your face because he believes so fiercely about what should be done. and i agree with about 90 5% of what he says. host: we will hear from caleb, in maryland, on the republican line. caller: i'm actually a democrat. but i do want to say this, bernie sanders i think is an exceptional candidate for the president. i hope he wins. face, he demands accountability, just like with amazon. bezos and out

there in the media, calling him being a pets that -- on being a powerful and wealthy company but not taking care of your people. he was in their face and amazon ended up raising their employees wages to $15. we need that kind of leader in america. and trump for the last three years we have seen, he's been divisive with these policies and now with the national emergency. 15 states are already suing him, which is not gonna solve anything but prolong and waste a lot of money. i'm hoping bernie sanders will be an exceptional candidate. ron, new's go to hampshire, on the democrats line. caller: good morning. thank you for your time. my wife and i will once again be voting for bernie sanders.

the best candidates. we have to start investing in our general masses. we are falling so far behind on the world stage out of all of the other industrialized countries, oath communist and socialist countries out there, we are 36 thin education -- in education for how smart our general public is. and we are almost as bad for our health care, though we have some of the best research and development in hospitals in the country. none of it has trickled down to the masses. that's what bernie sanders is looking to do. and there's a difference between socialism and socialist programs. if you want to know how we can afford some of the socialist programs with bernie sanders, he is suggesting free higher education, and health care for the general masses, we can start with corporations. like amazon.

paying zero percent in taxes. making hundreds of billions of dollars every year. and try this on, since our stock market crashed into thousand eight, some of the entities on 2008, howmarket -- in about common share stock, it's able to trade on more senior exchanges and when it does that we should put a 1%, a one penny tax on stocks two dollars or exchange withnior the dow or the nasdaq. host: we will leave it there. let's hear from israel, from senator sanders's home state of vermont. caller: there are going to be debates, and people talking. they will say what has been said about these programs. we will get to see what's going

on. what happens is, we might afford it for a minute, but then it gets more expensive and they start going into other pockets. and it just keeps going from one to another. so what to think about senator sanders declaring another run for the presidency? caller: this is america. anybody can be president. host: would you support him? caller: i would have to see what the socialism is. they're going to be debates and questions, everyone has to pay attention to what's going on. host: that is israel, in vermont. let's hear from help -- i'm sorry mike, in webster, new york. caller: thank you for taking my call. a quick comment, if you look at anybody on the stage right now, and you look at sanders since 2016. nobody has been pounding the pavement for the people like he

has. day in and day out. like a strategy by democrats to crowded the field and dilute the message. it probably sounds crazy, but i've seen too much from the first campaign and what happened in brooklyn and all the disenfranchised people who voted there. it seems like such a pushback on him from the establishment that tells me that i'm just in a vote for him because i will always do the opposite of what these folks tell me to do. it's gotten to the point where we don't think for ourselves. host: some of the people this morning mentioned the topic of age being a factor and whether -- in whether to consider him? is that a concern? caller: what about biden and his problem,'s another ages not in our society. you get to a certain age and all of a sudden you are a malfunctioning unit? most of the people calling and are probably his age or older and they don't think that's

wrong? i don't get it. i think some people live on a different planet. for: this is the last call that topic, coming up we will hear about north korea, particularly a nuclear -- the nuclear program is the united states is set to hold a summit with that country. daryl kimball will be joining us for that discussion. and later on we will feature clarence page conversations, co. announcer: there are over 100 faces in the u.s. capitol, including josh hawley. he served two years as attorney general. earlier, he worked for a nonprofit that does legal advocacy or religious freedom issues and talk at the university of missouri law school. he is the youngest member of the u.s. senate. sharice davids is often described as a former martial

arts fighter but she is also an attorney. she is the first openly gay person to represent kansas and washington, d.c. and one of the first two native american women elected to congress along with deb haaland. the second district of kansas elected steve watkins, a former captain and military contractor who suffered ptsd from his service in afghanistan. startsgressman took up chattering in alaska. he attempted to climb everest but six members of his team died. kevin herneve joined congress ahead of most other freshmen, last year replacing his predecessor who resides become the national

administrator. congressman hearn also in space. the challenger explosion tased his career. he purchased a mcdonald's restaurant that eventually led to buying more in the tulsa area. kendra horn also has strong ties to the arrow space industry -- aerospace industry. earlier in her career, she was press secretary to brad carson. she has been an attorney in private practice. before her election to congress, she was a consultant for the communication technology company. new congress, new leaders watch it on c-span. kimball.daryl

what is the most important thing for the united states to consider and upcoming summit with north korea? guest: the window for the diplomatic rake through is not going to last forever. this is the second summit at state level. there has been an easing of tensions since the 2018 singapore summit but there has the planprogress on for denuclearization and freezing tensions moving towards a piece regime. with each side, demanding more than the other was willing to give in, which is the usual with diplomatic negotiations, the two sides finally on track, there have been working level meetings with the north advisor on korean issue. they are on track to reach an agreement on a framework for an

action for action plan that freezes north korea's missile programs. there has been a testing halt but north korea continues to and improverial missile capabilities. north korea is not going to give up its abilities for nothing. he jong-un made it clear wants to make sure there is movement towards and ending of green themnesty of united states and north korea. we could see an initial deal that involves setting down north ,orea's major nuclear complex where they produce plutonium for weapons. it could go beyond that. the united states would like to .ee things have been shut down

the north is looking for something in return, maybe a three-way declaration on the end of the war, a political declaration involving the u.s. or south korean allies and the north. maybe easing of sanctions in return for whenever north korea falls through. host: are those reasonable steps for the united states? guest: those would be important steps on the road to denuclearization. north korea has a substantial arsenal. they have 10-20 nuclear bombs. they have got dozens of nuclear facilities. denuclearization even if the two sides agree to a plan is a years long process. as ane to look at this action for action process. each side builds confidence they are going to follow through, build confidence in one another and we can get along the road as fast as possible. that is the goal. the summit trumps last best

opportunity to make progress. host: questions about the summit. ask our guests. , for republicans. 202-748-8000, for democrats. 202-748-8002 independence -- independents . guest: we do not have to trust the north koreans to do what they are going to do. we need to have inspectors on the ground at sites where they say they are going to miss -- dismantle facilities. when we get to this point, when we are talking about dismantling to havemoms, we need u.s. specialists working together to ensure the disassembly is happening as prescribed. we will be able to see much of this on the ground. we will need to see much of this perhaps. inspectors,

atomic energy agency. some of it can be done through agencies.. monitoring it is going to be a complex, years long process. ant is tough is this is apples to oranges kind of exchange. the north koreans want the united states to take demonstrable steps to ease tension, things like a piece declaration, like removing u.s. strategic assets. a fly from guam. demonstrablehave steps. host: let's hear from president trump last friday speaking from the rose garden regarding the summit and north korea. [video clip]

[captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] -- >> no more testing of nuclear. the remains of our great heroes from the korean war. we got back our hostages. muche hope we are very equally successful. i am in no rush for speed. the sanctions remain. everything is remaining. china has been helping us. russia has been helping us. -- wekorea, you can say have been working closely with south korea, with japan but china, russia on the border have been possibly living up to what they are supposed to be doing and that is ok. he says a lot has been done since the first meeting. would you agree? have been need

to. the summer but there has not been progress on denuclearization. -- u.s. leaders were congress testifying on global threats. they reported north korea continues to take actions contrary to the goal of denuclearization. weapons or missile capabilities even if they are not doing flight tests. the president says he is not in but we need to move into the summit with urgency because this window of opportunity is not going to last. we have a supportive stop korean president, moon jae-in who has been a catalyst. we have a president who is

willing to take the risk of meeting with the leader of north korea. north korea's leadership once to meet with the united states and negotiate. this may not last forever. president trump needs to fees the opportunity and this summit is a critical opportunity but one meeting is not going to -- all of this. they need to come up with concrete steps, a roadmap. they need to have working level discussions to negotiate details of how north korea is going to nuclearreverse it programs and how the united states is going to the shore north korea its future is not going to be compromised if it disarms. host: our first call comes from michigan, this is tyrone. caller: i would like to ask this what the -- you stated united states wants and president trump wants from north

korea. do you know what the north koreans really wants out of the negotiation with us? also, based upon history and iraq as well as libya and those leaders ended up out of power, what are we going to do as far as the latest of north korea if we come up with an agreement. guest: that is a great question. in any negotiation, there is give-and-take. -- one side is going to get no one side is going to get everything they want. the north koreans have made their through private statements to experts and the u.s. saw it but they are looking for an initial steps to include a political declaration on the end of the war. woulde north koreans this be important.

it would show the united states does not intend to seek regime change. stevefficials including begin has said that what they want a formal political declaration signed by the president. they are and just did in sanctions released. the international sanctions regime is having an effect on north korea. not to the extent we would want to but it is not slowed. but it is having a serious effect in north korea's ability paruild week -- a weekend economy. they want to see sanctions that thed begin with opening door to humanitarian relief, medicines, limited economic cooperation between north and south korea on projects. the other thing the north the -- is interested in is making sure

the united states military poses ais not one that threat of attack at any time. north korea's ability to thwart an american surprise attack is low. they are worried the united states could position strategic regionassets into the based in japan, guam. statesnt to see united agree. some initial steps the north wanted what -- the north wants. they are driving a new relationship ended formal peace treaty with the united states and other parties to the original korean conflict. host: this is richard in massachusetts. wondering,as president trump -- what do we want from north korea? trump just seems

bute happy kim likes him not have any policy. i was wondering, let's get policy. guest: president trump has expressed satisfaction with his beautiful relationship with kim jong-un. that is hyperbole. they have met. the personal relationship is important but what we need is tangible outcomes. what the united states is looking for is what we have been looking for for years, which is to eliminate its nuclear weapons program and ballistic missiles that can deliver nuclear weapons against our allies, even as far as the united states. in 2017, the north koreans conducted a successful ballistic

missile that showed they have the capability to deliver warheads to the american homeland. ant we are looking for is approach to complete denuclearization, ending the production of nuclear bombs. accounting for and eliminating the nuclear bomb that north korea has assembled and the nuclear materials they have in their country, we are not going to have 100% assurance we have we can be of it but highly certain we have the bulk of the nuclear weapons material under control. thing we are looking for is the dismantling of industrial facilities and in the long run we are going to have to find a way to redirect the expertise of the north korean

engineers and scientists who have been involved in this program since they do not take their skills and sell them to third countries. detailed list and of things we are looking forward , but one problem we have with this negotiation is the united states and north korea do not have been a great definition of what denuclearization means. we think about it as disarming north korea. the north koreans think of it as are no nuclearre threats to north korea and they do not have nuclear weapons. their interest is making sure the united states is not preparing or does not have , whether nuclear or nonnuclear that could hit north korea. definition of negotiation is vague. they are going to have to work through it as negotiations move on.

tests ofhave seen various missiles out of north korea. guest: the u.s. intelligence committee has assessed in independent experts that we work with we believe north koreans have ballistic missiles. 14 that can reach targets in the u.s.. how accurate they are is not clear. how reliable -- this is the device that delivers the nuclear bomb to the target. they have a missile that can to decide allo nuclear bomb across the u.s. they have no more than a couple dozen of these missiles. they are probably manufacturing more and this is one reason why we cannot be comfortable they

are not flight testing. we have to make sure they are not producing more, improving capabilities as time goes on. host: how is the united states prepared to meet that threat? billionse u.s. expense of dollars on ballistic missile defenses going back to the 1970's. we have a limited capability to fewa simple target from a ballistic missiles coming from north korea. there are four dozen ballistic missile interceptors the united states has, so if north korea launched 10 ballistic missiles towards the united states headed towards seattle, los angeles. our ballistic missile system might be relied upon to hit half of those. the problem is in order for north korea to close a threat to the u.s., they do not have to

have all their missiles yet. is one reason why we have to avoid at all costs a war with north korea. the nature of geography, the forces lined up -- this would become a war that becomes nuclear quickly. american cities are potentially at risk if north korea to get missiles off the ground. more importantly, the millions -- and hundreds of millions of south korea and family are at risk in a conflict between two countries lined up against the dmz with enormous conventional and nuclear firepower. host: this is daryl kimball joining us. rol.org.bsite, armscont this is tony, texas, independent line. caller: i do not know how to say

this with more heart but, i am an american and i am tired of killing everybody in the world. our government has made our -- for the last 20 something years you all have ruined it. y'all made us hated everywhere. you are a bunch of murderers. will go to jason in california. republican line. caller: good morning. -- donald calling trump has done more in his first term as president towards north korea been every single president combined. there is a reason why north korea does not launch a nuclear

missile or even test nuclear missiles on ibm's. it is simple. they have a 90% cellular rates just shooting off ibm's. for them to suit nuclear missiles towards america, it would be like committing suicide. for the last 70 years, every -- on norths been korea. they would mention it. all the stuff about having trump, trump has only been meeting with chairman kim for the last year. let's give donald trump credit. host: we will let our guest response. guest: donald trump does deserve credit for taking the step to agree to meet with kim jong-un. last spring, it was moon jae-in who brokered an opening with the north koreans followed the --ongchang ayla blix

olympics. many observers said donald thompson not accept this offer from kim jong-un to meet in person. my organization was one of the few that said, this is a way to break the ice, to cut through the difficulties of reaching diplomatic outcome that helps north korea removed this nuclear process. that was good but since the june summit, there has not been significant process and that is not surprising because this is a years long problem. if it is a complicated problem, this second summit would be a critical opportunity for trump to make headway. what has happened since donald trump humans office is the north koreans did successfully conduct ibm tests in 2017. these were not failures. these were demonstrable

successes. they conducted their largest nuclear test explosion in september 20, a 200 kilotons large.nt explosion, very probably a hydrogen bomb device. administration, the north koreans have made progress but there is this opportunity to turn things around with this summit. host: there is a viewer on twitter who asks, does the path with north korea conflict with the broader efforts to contain china? guest: i do not think it does. while we have disagreements with china on trade policy, human rights issues, one area where there is agreement is our mutual interest in making certain north korea is not have nuclear weapons. the u.s. and china have different approaches as to how

diplomacy should be executed. what is the right mix of sentence and pressure for what north korea needs to do? as president trump said, there has been good cooperation from china over the last year or so in implementing the international sanctions that have been imposed and china has a big part of implementing those sanctions because china is north korea's biggest trading partner. this is an area where there is a lot of mutual interest. an area where we often hear about disagreements between washington and beijing is beijing wants stability in its region. north korea is in its backyard. is a warh korea fears on the korean peninsula. wreake havoc that would to china itself.

they are interested in making and the situation is stable then the pursuit of denuclearization second. massachusetts, independent mind for our guest, go ahead. caller: good morning. i hope he is successful but i am confused. but you are talking about verifying things. that?od are we at why would he have this verifiable policy is yet we were able to verify in them. he put us out. i am confused. i wish you would explain that to me and my husband did fight in korea. peace.ope there will be thank you. guest: thank you to your husband

for his service and sacrifice. on the koreaneace peninsula has meaning to a lot of people in the u.s. and on the korean peninsula. butpe donald trump succeeds the color brings up an interesting quandary, which is president trump pulled the and estates out of the 2015 iran nuclear deal, which succeeded in process.round nuclear it was getting to the point fiscalou could produce material. they did not get there. one reason they were not able to do that is international inspectors from the iaea were given broader authority and access inside ironic -- iran. iran being with

implemented so far so i am also confused as the caller is, about why donald trump did not just see the value of those inspectors in iran. he and his team are assisting with the north koreans that inspectors going to north korea to verify the potential dismantlement of north korea's nuclear complex. international inspectors on the ground are critical to any such activity and they are just as viable as they could be in the future with north korea. host: in new jersey, hi. caller: yes. , i rememberng about reaganreagan -- ronald , from russia

coming in back in the early 80's. i was wondering, can y'all do that? can you block the missile from coming into america like ronald reagan did a long time ago? host: thanks. guest: the quick answer is no. ronald reagan had the concept of building a shield to defend the united states against the soviet union's many nuclear arms missiles. that never came to fruition even though the united states has spent billions of dollars on strategic missile defense. we have 44 strategic interceptors that can hit a small number of missiles from a

country like north korea. 100%.ccess rate is not missile defense is not in the northerm defense against korea's ballistic missiles. north korea's response to a more robust defense would be to build more off of ballistic missiles that can hit not just the u.s. but our allies in south korea and japan. it would be an offensive defensive arms race that neither side could win. the goal ought to be to negotiate with north korea a lasting agreement that eliminates the capability to deliver nuclear weapons on ballistic missiles. what is success for the second summit then? guest: that is a tough question in the sense that this is

another step on a long road. if president trump can reach an agreement on a spring work -- a framework that lays out a roadmap, a years long roadmap, ,hat the united states will do what north korea will do, that would be a major success if they can come out of the summit with an agreement for north korea to shut down its nuclear complex, which is probably 50% of their nuclear weapons industrial capacity. in exchange for a political statement on the end of the war. that would be big. .hat would be the best herbal -- demonstrable. that is what i am hoping for. whether they can do that, i do not know. it depends on each site going into the summit with realistic expectations, not asking for

more than the other side at this stage is willing to go for and it depends on president trump staying on script. we know you can follow. he does not always read briefing books. he has prepared as best as i can from this meeting. of steak so a lot those of the kinds of outcomes i think would be successful but then again, the success of this summit will have to be measured by, does he follow through? and what follow up negotiations take place? deryl kimball serves as the executive director, thanks for your time. coming up, we are going to have a conversation with clarence page, columnist for the chicago tribune. that, up next. ♪

announcer: there are over 100 faces -- new faces in the u.s. capital, including senator josh hawley. he served two years as attorney general. earlier, he worked for a nonprofit that does legal advocacy for religious freedom and taught at the university of missouri law school. he is the youngest member of the senate. kansas representative sharice davids is described as a mixed martial arts fighter but also it --an attorney. she is the first openly gay person to represent kansas and one of the first native american women elected to congress along with deb haaland. the second district of kansas elected steve watkins, a former u.s. army captain and military

contractor, who suffered a traumatic brain injury and posttraumatic stress disorder from his service in afghanistan. the congressman took up dogsled racing while stationing and dissipated twice. he attempted to climb mount everest but six members of his team died. kevin hearn joined congress ahead of other freshmen, replacing his predecessor jim bridenstine who resigned come the next administrator. has a justsman also and space. he was pursuing a phd in astronomical engineering when the 1986 challenger explosion changed his career plans. instead he purchased a mcdonald's restaurant that eventually led to buying a few more mcdonald's in the tulsa area. also has strong ties to the aerospace industry.

she is a former executive at a nonprofit that advocates for the industry. earlier, she was press secretary to brad carson. she has been an attorney in private practice. before her election to congress, she was a consultant or communication technology companies. new congress, new leaders. host: we welcome clarence page with the chicago tribune. your latest column takes a look at a situation a couple weeks ago featuring the trumpet effect. kids from redhead covington capital high school in kentucky, this is a lot like the jussie smollett story. thatare media stories changed as we got more information and i will not recap

this too much because everybody knows about this story. and picked uput off the web and it looked like you had these white kids from nativey harassing this american elder who was there for another parade that day off-camera where the black cities andpops up in makes noise, yelling at people and racist or anti-semitic. shiftedase, the story after a day or so was we begin to learn that these boys had been waiting for their bus to comment take them home -- come and take them home at the right

to life march in d.c. you have a case of people who were already critics of the media again, distorting that story because of the prejudices you have on tv and the media. host: you highlight the trumpet effect. guest: the trumpet effect is, what made this picture so inflammatory? which the kids had just bought at the souvenir stand, some of them had worn hope hats when barack obama was president. kids come to washington and buy souvenirs. in this case it had a loaded power, that image of the maga hats triggered a lot of people in thinking trump people are causing trouble again.

prejudicesash of inflamed by the fact we are in the trump era. i do not recall anyone getting agitated about hope hats during the obama years but in the trump era, we are subdivided. a lot of us are so touchy you automatically get a big reaction one side on the other -- where the other depending on how the story plays out. host: you mentioned the jussie smollett story. are there parallels? guest: what got people worked up , it is not asry bad as people say. you get mugged. celebritylett was a for one thing. he said these guys who attacked him said this is maga country

now. imageve got the red hat that inflames the story. that made it political. that is what you had conservatives reacting when this unfold --begin to began to unfold. smolletts again with as a suspect. .ou see the number of people they do not wait for me to write it. that you are not going to write about this, are you? that is what i do. i dealing controversial issues. this is one. host: when it comes to those stories, is the idea of taking a story at face value coming into question? guest: we should not have to

remind ourselves of that. didn't our moms and dads tell us not to be gullible? if your mama says she loves you, check it out. that is the way i came up in journalism. i have been misled once or twice over stories sent out. i was surprised. people were-- spelling a rat right away. this kind of thing happens. too good to be true. host: our guest is with us till the end of this program. he serves as a columnist. if you want to ask him questions, 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8000, for democrats and independents.our

you wrote about the political state of things. for those who did not read the piece, what are you trying to say? guest: it started whether the government -- governor should quit or not. black virginians want him to stay in office. why? because he has done a good job. ex-convicts devoting -- voting on reforms. the drive to take down confederate statues. he built up a lot of goodwill and that shows itself much like the other side of the political fence, trump has built up goodwill and all manner of abuses and facts and things he is notorious for.

we have had to become accustomed to and learn how to deal with now, how people believe what they want to believe and they will go on with it. host: you were surprised by the reaction from the african-american community in virginia. guest: i was surprised because i have seen so much of anti-blackface coverage going on wasthe controversy generated. it was not after -- until i saw the pulling where this has happened before, where a politician who was in good stead with the black community was able to maintain their support and it is not just a racial thing. mayor in boston many years ago who was reelected while sitting in jail. .hat happened

he got out of jail on a misdemeanor charge, was reelected. this determines your survival in politics is how will you get along with your constituents. host: this comes from north carolina, our democrat line for clarence page. caller: this is the second time i have called when you appeared. -- mix president obama's name with this clown in the white house. the hope hats did not cause a problem. and roger stone with the funny looking glasses need to go somewhere and never show up. host: we will hear from jimmy in fort myers, florida. jimmy. this is

i got a question for you, not directly at you but i want to ask people using the word racism as a weapon now. i was talking to guys on the job .nd whoever i asked them to define the word racism to me. my definition of racism is, when you wake up in the morning, look at yourself in the mirror. after you look at yourself and evaluate yourself, look at your mom, dad, brothers, sisters and that will help you define racism. they are using this and tearing this country down. trump did not cause racism. racism has existed from day one and it always will. the only thing that could conquer racism, hate, bitterness

is the word of god. if you take the word of got out, you have not got yourself nothing. you can respond to those as you wish. guest: i agree the word racism has become problematic because people have different meanings in their heads. you have arguments over whether a black person can be racist because we do not have the power to oppress others institutionally. that is an argument that can go on and on but it flies in the face of having a black president and other advances we have made over the years, rather than open up a discussion of history i prefer to use the term black supremacy. when they talk about racism, they talk about a belief or institutional structure that gives privilege to white folks

nonwhitesly penalizes and this can be an institutional thing where you have an impact. that is a legal term. you may not intent to discriminate, but the actual -- that is where we are these days. that is more of a discussion. this is not to say racism is not real, but if we can be clear about language, we are going to spend a lot of time talking without getting a problem solved. host: here is dave from ohio, independent mine. caller: top of the morning. i have four issues. cleveland. guest: i grew up in middletown and went to ohio university.

good to hear from you. caller: that is where my daughter went. considerur issues i centrist issues. one is social security, which few states -- 85% of americans are in favor of. , liberal wage is which 73% of americans are in favor of. universal here -- health care, which is 62%. the other one is progressive income tax, which 75% the voice of america states the are in favor of. explain to me what the democratic party sits and lets the ultra-right that the parameters for what is left and what is right and what most people want. in my estimation, both the republican party and democratic

party to the right. election we last had 58% of the people that were eligible to vote voted. you have got 42% of the population that did not vote and i am going after those 42%. is the gets those 42% next president. guest: thank you. you make good points. i was thinking. they were talking about socialism. we cannot have socialism in america. what do you call social security? what do you call medicare and medicaid? i was around. theld reagan was saying socialism is going to take over. now they are the popular programs in the federal government. medicaid money goes

to the middle class in nursing homes. is why democrats are not in the habit of talking about labels. what does work for them is, what does the money by? social security, like what medicare delivers. out,when obamacare came these democrats are into complications they do not need to have. why don't you say medicare for everybody? then people love it or hate it. democrats have gotten. socialists -- bernie sanders, oca, aoc. cortez.a i do not remember things well.

i always have to recall what aoc stands for. why is she so popular? because she is talking about what government can do for people in that works for democrats. you think the reaction to representative cortez has been from republicans? i stumbled across -- here and it was why is the right looking out -- clipping out? they love her. just like the left in so many , donald trump from the beginning in his campaign. she is so proud of her beliefs. she does not worry about a lot of actual details just like donald trump does not worry about factual details. it drives me crazy as a journalist. all of the watching

bars thrown at her as my conservative friends. she fires people up. people look closer and they see she is not as scary. that is what frightens the right. she is a friendly face on socialism. host: here is the kentucky, democrat line. she is guilty and the lieutenant governor is guilty. say, godve got to created us. we are all created in his image. if he wanted us all to be black, he would have made us black. if he wanted us all to be white,

he would make us white. there is not going to be a black heaven and a white heaven. is having the situation in virginia with the attorney general and governor, is this a long-term problem as you look ahead to 2020 in the state? guest: i do not think in virginia and i leave it to virginia because they are the ones who have to deal with it, but i think they have found ,istory caving in on them crashing down. i am talking about centuries of institutional racism that is blackface. for i have white friends on campus who did blackface at halloween. whichys as a journalist,

college campus is going to have the next corruption over blackface makeup? it happens every year because our parents do not talk to kids about race, about what is acceptable and what is not. here is what my parents called good manners. if you want to make friends in life, you do not go to college to move up in society where you are a hermit. you want to work with other people, whether corporate, government or whatever. we have got socialized etc. and othera matter of doing people who come from other cultures. look at it and have an attiredly different reaction. donald trump plays did that with making the red hat symbol of defiance and rebellion and a push back against this complicated world.

anyway, democrats are leading politicians and the state. the lieutenant governor is accused of sexual improprieties, which is a different ball game. that is a potential felony. blackface is not a felony but in politics it can be if you do not do with it properly. host: if he remains in office, is their legitimacy to the racist behavior? guest: that is a discussion that needs to be had because how racist is it -- this happened in high school. what did they say about kavanaugh? they were in high school. they were -- i am sorry, medical school for the governor. for kavanaugh, it was high school and the question was, how long must you where the shame of something before you are penalized for something that

happened when you were in adolescence. that is what happens when you put things into perspective. i will be asking who winds, who loses by kicking this governor out? he can continue to survive. let's their governors run a second term, there is a reason for that. host: let's hear from florida. independent line, joe is up next. caller: hello. can you hear me? host: go ahead. caller: i wanted to chime in earlier. i appreciate an estate systems and i do not know if that is socialism. say i wasing to curious about what you thought as a journalist about the gas lighting effect, that the

stories you are talking about. the image shows one thing. feeds into this narrative of fake news and you cannot trust anybody. i would say, thank you for the conversation and bye-bye. [laughter] are coming back. we are working on bringing the show back. question in regards -- i forgot his first point but he was talking about -- oh yeah. the services government provides -- we have ae mixed economy. that is the wind -- way americans are.

, see if it best idea works and if it doesn't, change it. that is the way begin innovation. who controls and who serves? what is the price paid? this is the way we have fallen down, paying the price. democrats are smart enough not to talk about how much medicare for all would cost. you see different estimates coming back. republicans are frugal enough to talk about leverage its. this last budget donald trump signed. a chilean dollars for the next 10 years? that is not frugality. that is what we have debates. that is what we put these issues out there. and government needs to do how can we do it in the most efficient manner.

host: joseph is in ohio. caller: how are you? there is a problem we have in this country we never want to talk about. we never want to talk about the history of race and the only way we are going to get over this is we have been in our education system. we have to be educated about it. we are not there. abouttalk all you wish there were different traits and things of that nature to help us survive. if we got and that, we do not talk about it because everybody wants their kids. i am from kent, ohio. went to a higher university as i mentioned earlier, so welcome. caller: i feel sorry for you. i could not get in now if i tried.

caller: that is fine. we forget to discuss the things that matter to us and that is, in order to overcome racism we have to talk about it. the past we do not want to discuss? we can educate our kids about it and if we do that, we have no problems. i am reading a book about education and we talk about college. we do not talk about alternatives to college, which we are going to talk about now. since the early 1990's, there are more female students getting better gpas and it is only after graduation. , boysthe father of a son and girls approach education differently. to girls are more inclined

sit and pay attention and the guy the more innovative, more restless. we find guys -- look at bill jobs.and steve they docked out. they do a lot of things. we are flexible enough in our education system and since 1965, the same year i started college under president johnson's education pack shifted things, and the burden shifted to the states. states are cutting budgets. the administration turns the kids to student loans and buries them that for decades after graduation. in 1965,nt to college adept at $1240 for the year for the remember board, that is 1/10 of what it costs

you now to go to a good state college in ohio. this has made this great was college beyond high school and those who do not. we have this widening, and this is why donald trump won. wonthis is after obama had it twice, and this after he ran on the jobs issue. it made such a big difference in the industrial midwest, so we have got to get more creative about how we handle education for coming generations. out of time running come of anything interesting as far as candidates and trends you are saying? do not make predictions anymore since donald trump one for you [laughter] been alluding to a

number of things the democrats have to work out in their own ranks, this whole identity -- in some ways, it is a red herring, and in other ways, it is a very real thing. they have to deal with their own diverse city or they could be as devised as they were back in 1972, and 1988. they need to get back to the unifying elements. host: clarence page is a columnist for the chicago tribune, and you for your time today. guest: thank you. host: another program comes your way tomorrow morning at 7:00. we take you now to washington dc, the atlantic council holding a discussion with the former treasury secretary jacob lew on economic sanctions. that conversation start shortly. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

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